Finally

Hello everyone! I hope you have all had a wonderful wonderful week. For some of you, the holiday festivities have already started. Would anybody care to send me some delicious latkes? Mwahaha! Anyway, I really don’t know where to start. The past week was filled with finals, papers, and catching up with friends before my road trip back to Florida. So that’s where I am right now! And if anybody wants some sunshine, there’s plenty to spread around.

I’m going to start the post off with some more pictures from Art Basel.

Ai Wei Wei's sunflower seeds made out of porcelain.

Now take a closer look.

Okay I will save more for later! Now on to some food.

My dad flew back up to Virginia with me for business!

After a bad experience with airport food – stomach flu – I’ve been weary of eating it so I pack my own stuff.

Peppermint coffee drink standing in all it's glory.

Lunch for two

Soba noodles, edamame, a medley of vegetables + lemon juice + coconut oil + salt

While I was away I received a wonderful little package.

Bekah lovingly made all these wonderful munchies. Coconut chia granola, cumin, cinnamon + maple “scented” almonds, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Everything was taste tested by moi, and my parents. Well my mom didn’t get to enjoy the cookies since she wasn’t in Virginia. So delicious! Hey Bekah, you need to share your secret on how you made the granola – it’s incredible!

Leftover veggies and edamame with barley and peanuts.

Kale and more barley!

Can you tell that I love green? I drizzled sesame oil on top of it all and sprinkled on some toasted sesame seeds as well.

A most delicious dinner.

I smuggled an acorn squash from my Florida and I was ready to eat that baby! I roasted it with Canadian maple syrup, cinnamon, and coconut oil. I also made my mom’s secret recipe for red lentils with coconut oil. Can’t forget the sweet potato!

Persimmons

I always think of my darling darlings when I eat one! They’re so good with vanilla almond granola, vanilla yogurt, and cinnamon. Is there a certain food that just seems so precious whenever you eat it? A few on my list are figs, persimmons, dates, and white peaches.

Kale with toasted pine nuts and freshly grated parmesan. Someone baked tater tots – yay! Tater tots just sound so cute! I also had some Gardein crispy tenders. I squirted on some ketchup and Old Bay seasoning. I was a little kid that really liked their vegetables!

So easy and delicious!

I used up the rest of the penne pasta in the box. I sauteed some red onion, Tofurky Italian sausage, and garlic. I mixed it all together with homemade basil and toasted pine nut pesto, then grated some parmesan on top.

This papaya was grown in my parents backyard AND it's organic.

Even with this picture you can see that this papaya was bursting with flavor. BURSTING!

More pasta

Gnocchi, homemade pesto, and grated parmesan over a bed of kale.

That day I went for a walk around to different galleries with a friend, since I missed First Friday.

Message in a bottle ornament!

They look cuddly and cute but they're really sharp!

Beware!

Amazing jewelry - handwoven mesh.

Very illustrative wire work.

Let's take a picture of each other taking a picture!

Matilda and one of the gallery owners became fast friends.

Woodblock prints

More gnocchi love

My roommate’s boyfriend made this delicious thick carrot soup. I decided to incorporate it into my dinner. Thick carrot soup, kale, gnocchi with pesto, and parmesan. More please! Later that night I decided to take Matilda on a walk on one of the avenues with lots of pretty houses.

The holiday season is here!

I love Christmas lights.

It's like a waterfall.

A mountain of blueberry love all piled over granola and vanilla yogurt.

Colors!

Salted edamame + carrot sticks. Sandwich: cream cheese, tomato slices, and the last of my pesto! Then I was off to my last final exam of the semester. The trick is to think positive because most likely you do know your sh!t.

Last night in Richmond I had dinner at a friend's.

Maybe you recognize the Hello Kitty sandwich container? Afterwards we had some hot cocoa and were stuck to the space heater like mosquitos to a zapper! A friend of mine was playing a free show that night so we headed over there close to the time they were going to start playing.

Every band was awesome and so full of energy.

There were three couches set-up movie theatre style so comfort was thought of! It was a very cozy environment and everyone was into it.

They also had some random projections playing.

Well that was my brief recap of my week! My semester is done and it’s time to relax. And now that I’m back in Florida… you know what that means! Well, one thing I learned this past week is to “never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.” Couldn’t have said it better myself, Mark Twain. Anyway, I hope everyone is doing wonderfully and surrounded with honey bunches of love!

New York Recap Part 2

Drum roll please! Now the real adventure begins. Since my friend was working her normal hours, I was left to come up with things I could do to fill my time. As if that’s hard to do when you’ve got a city like New York at your fingertips… or should I say feet? Because I did plenty of walking!

I’m honestly having a hard time remembering what I did exactly, because it was a whirlwind of a trip. However, I do remember I did a lot of shopping around the SoHo area. I was a big girl and took the subway all by myself. I got lost a couple times, but no worries I eventually found the right way. Although, I did almost end up in Coney Island.

Underground life.

Here are some things I tried on

Cute black jumper… or whatever they’re called. So serious!

Favorite new blazer!

The pockets.

Some color for you.

Everything I ended up buying was black! Of course you guys know me, and I will definitely dress those things up with some color.

I made my way to Dean & Deluca.

So much to cheese from!

The ceilings were high and the floor was a clean marble. The shelves were stacked high with gourmet treats, sauces, preserves, and whatever else you can imagine. They were also kindly offering samples of their assorted bakery breads. Oh how I wish there was one near me!

I chose something that I knew I couldn’t find anywhere else: Creme of Dates with Almonds.

I also stopped by Top Shop and tried on things that were out of my comfort zone. The clothes was totally glitzy and glamorous. It was so much fun! Whenever I’m in New York I feel the need to step up my style a notch and live on the fashion edge. Before I headed back to Brooklyn, a store across the street had caught my eye. I stopped in Pearl River and totally thought of you Katie! They have so many cute dishes there. Before I headed out I stopped in the small food section to see if they had Lucky candy. Alas, they did not. However, I did find some interesting drinks and I decided to open one on the way back home.

Banana Flavour Grass Jelly Drink

I honestly had no idea what to expect, but just hope that it tasted like banana atleast. I ended up enjoying this a lot, and I love drinks with chunks in them. Since I got in the refrigerated section, it was nice and cold.

I also saw a bunch of these fancy looking ice cream trucks.

Their menu had illustrations of their flavors’ plants. Example: a vanilla bean for vanilla.

Musicians in Union Square on my way home.

We took it easy that night, and just lounged around with the windows open. Definitely felt like summer the whole time. Sorry I didn’t really take very many pictures of my eats. For the most part, I was on a budget so they weren’t very spectacular. Just portable meals I put together. Plus I packed some super dense bars and bags of nuts to keep me going since I knew I’d be walking a lot. One of the bars I packed were the Nature’s Path Optimum Blueberry Flax & Soy. They were so good!

Two thumbs way up!

The next day I got dressed and headed off to find some galleries. I was looking for Deitch, but it must’ve disappeared whenever I went near it. But while I searching for this mysterious gallery, I witnessed a robbery/police chase. Cuh-razy! I ended up just wandering around going into random stores. I walked into this Brazilian designer’s store and I spotted the most beautiful Brazilian guy I have EVER seen… then he spoke in Portuguese and I secretly turned into a puddle inside. I also hopped into Barney’s CO-OP, and an adorable shop with lingerie from Japan. I also managed to find this store with amazing things from the Far East. I was almost too afraid to touch anything because everything looked like an artifact. I love when you can tell that something was made with true craftsmanship. No worries though, I did get to see some galleries!

I stumbled into this cute boutique with a ton of beauty goodies.

The girl working there said I could snap a picture if I tried one of their scrubs in that huge fountain set up in the middle. What’s the catch?

Dali at the William Bennett Gallery.

Some more.

A real character!

I found a bench by a park to sit down and enjoy my packed lunch.

I was walking to Gramercy Park when I spotted this little spot. Some Italian women were sitting next to me, and they seemed to know everyone in the neighborhood. It was really nice to sit there and make small talk with them. Especially since I’d been alone most of the day. After my little lunchbreak I just walked around with no destination in mind. I saw a doggy boutique and I noticed there was a crowd in front of the restaurant across the street. Apparently Mischa Barton was filming something there, and of course the paparazzi were on it!

I also stopped by this awesome bookstore called Strand.

Then Liz called and told me she was heading into the city. While I waited I went into Barnes & Noble and looked through brain game books, cookbooks, and fashion magazines. Finally, Liz met up with me in Union Square. We went over to Sephora and basically tried on makeup for about an hour.

Not a good day at work.

Before we headed back home we met up with Liz’s roommate and her friends for happy hour.

Cutest French bulldog I've ever seen!

I did manage to find some things I know you guys will love!

Can you guess where I found the goods?

I had been to this Whole Foods before, but I never really looked around. Previously I had just gone to the hot bar (which is incredible by the way), and upstairs to eat. But that day I ventured on downstairs in search of a couple things. It turned out that what I was looking for was by the cash registers, but I didn’t mind exploring the Whole Foods grounds – not one bit.

The only one I wasn't a big fan of was the German Chocolate Cake. So sue me!

I also tried another one of my finds from Pearl River - Basil Seed Drink, complete with actual basil seeds!

Later on, Liz had one of her friends over and we played Scrabble. It was my first time playing and I can see why so many people love it! I’m really into games that test your knowledge and perhaps teach you something new.

It’s so weird writing up these recaps because I have so many things in my present life that I want to share with you. When will I ever get you guys up to speed? Soon enough I hope.

Oh! And there’s plenty more to come. I have a feeling next post is going to be bursting at the seams with pictures.

p.s. I’m glad to be back and blogging! I missed you guys too. And to answer Brooke’s question: I sleep with coconut oil in my hair about 2-3 times a week, I don’t wash it everyday, natural shampoos and conditioners, I never brush only comb, and most importantly… eating fats with nutritive values really helps! Oh and my mom recommends taking a multi-vitamin for hair, skin, and nails.